Give us honest labelling, Jones tells Minister
10 December 2009
Westminster
Current food labelling regulations mean foreign producers can steal Welsh farmers’ goodwill, Clwyd West Conservative MP David Jones told the Commons today.
David Jones was speaking after an exchange between Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Nick Herbert, and Agriculture Minister Jim Fitzpatrick, when Mr Herbert revealed that British representatives in an EU working party on foodstuffs had blocked attempts by other European nations to introduce mandatory food labelling regulations.
At present, a product may be labelled as, for example, “Welsh lamb” when produced abroad, provided the final stage in processing took place in Wales.
David Jones said:
“The labelling arrangements as they stand facilitate not only the potential deception of consumers, but the theft of goodwill built up by generations of Welsh farmers who produce, for example, Welsh lamb. Does the Minister understand how dismayed those farmers will be when they hear of his rather lame response to the points put to him by my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert)—that this Government have stood in the way of attempts to change those labelling regulations?”
The Minister replied:
“No—as I said a moment ago, we are doing everything we can to protect British produce. I also mentioned that we are celebrating Cornish sardines becoming an EU-protected food name later today. There are 39 other products, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will come to New Covent Garden to see them and celebrate with us.”
Speaking later, David Jones commented:
“Consumers and farmers are losing out because the current food labelling regulations permit meat produced abroad to be labelled as British. It is therefore shocking to hear that, in the European Council working committee on foodstuffs held on 31 July, the British representatives opposed mandatory country of origin labelling, when France, Italy and nine other member states supported it.
“The Government pay lip service to honesty in food labelling, but in reality appear to be impeding it.
“In the meantime, British consumers are denied proper information and British farmers are suffering from unfair competition.
“It is high time the Government made proper efforts to introduce honesty in food labelling.”
ENDS
03 September 2010